Denim Days Celebrates Heritage - The Daily Record (registration)

By SHAUN SAVARESE

Of The Record Staff

Residents from all over the region came into Erwin to celebrate the town’s 2016 Denim Days festival Saturday, flooding the streets with dark blue T-shirts and bright white smiles.

Children, parents and grandparents enjoyed a parade of more than 40 troupes, floats and classic cars that rumbled down South 13th Street.Political figures and beauty queens took to the same street as well as a horse-drawn carriage and a gang of goofy clowns. There was something for Erwinites of all ages in Saturday’s parade. Erwin Police Chief Bill Morris, who is retiring in January, launched the fleet of cop cars and fire trucks from inside his custom truck, fashioned with working lights and sirens. Tailored to the young at heart, the Dunn Shrine Club Clowns hugged children, kissed babies and did funny dances for a few teenagers.

The Denim Days 2016 parade lasted approximately 45 minutes, starting on schedule at 3 p.m. Although Erwin is no longer the “Denim Capital of the World” since the cotton mill closed and the work was sent to other countries, the chamber decided to keep the name in honor of the town’s heritage. Some of the events have since gone away, like the fishing rodeo in the mill’s reservoir. Others have been added, like the Denim Days Kids Pedal Tractor Pull.While at least one other has made a comeback — the Bib Overall Challenge created when Denim Days, then Overalls Days, was founded in 1961.

There were 112 vendors at this year’s festival, from fitness, food and fashion to entertainment, education and enjoyment.

Fuquay-Varina resident Hamilton Brown of S& S Entertainment in Buies Creek provided the Erwin Area Chamber of Commerce with a variety of attractions. “ It is a beautiful day,” he said. “ This is a great turnout.”

Erwin Area Chamber of Commerce Administrator Abby Barefoot was pleased as well, saying that the Friday night street dance was fun, as she was preparing for Saturday’s afternoon crowd.

One of the top selling items for the chamber was the Denim Days visors. Staff at the chamber tent sold a great deal of merchandise, including a variety of tops.

Under the white lettering on the brick Erwin Business Complex, attendees could purchase a Bib Overall Challenge adult baseball shirt for $15. After the parade, many folks surrounded that tent, buying up See Denim Days, Page 3

Atop Erwin Fire and Rescue’s truck No. 5, Mayor Patsy Carson was the first to turn the corner of East Denim Street onto North 13th Street to greet the gaggle of grinning Denim Days parade patrons Saturday.

Daily Record Photo/Shaun Savarese Denim Days

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clothing and getting ready for the second annual Tim Morris P.A. Bib Overall Challenge. The contestants raced each other and not as a whole.

Harnett County Sheriff’s Deputies R.J. Beasley and Walter Eason joined Bill Lasater of Erwin and David Tillman of Buies Creek at the nearby CareNet tent and table, getting ready for the race.

Campbell University Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Charles Howard Professor of Religion Dr. W. Glenn Jonas Jr. and Chair of the Department of Christian Studies and Professor of Christian Theology and Philosophy Dr. Adam C. English took part in the Bib Overall Challenge raising monry for CareNet Counseling.

Ed Beddingfield of Buies Creek was a judge, determining who won the race between Harnett County coordinators and husband and wife, Sharon and Doug Stevens, as well as who won the race between Erwin Mayor Patsy Carson and a giant tortoise which was racing for Dunn Mayor Oscar Harris who fell recently and injured his hand.

Debbie Ferguson, Victoria Beaton, Jeff Stall, Seth Coleman, Megan Kate and Jaime Reyes all helped out too, putting a nice shiny button on the seams of Erwin’s freshly-hemmed Denim Days.

Alma Carolyn Vann Barefoot came by The Daily Record to point out the first Overalls Day was not 1964, as implied at left, but 1961, as shown at right. She should know. She was the first Miss Overalls. She was a student at Erwin High School at the time.

Daily Record Photo/Lisa Farmer

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